Blatter gets tough on fat cats in football just for the money

"There are national laws in Switzerland, for example, when you buy property or make an investment, you must prove yourself," he explained. "You have to prove your link with the area.

"We must ask ourselves about what motivates these owners and are they really interested in the game or just making money?

So said FIFA President Sepp Blatter at a meeting at the European Parliament yesterday, in which he expressed alarm over foreign ownership of football clubs in Europe.

Interesting that ice hockey-loving Sepp could say this with a straight face, considering his own rather tenuous links with the canton in Switzerland where he was registered as a resident in order to cut his tax-bill, as detailed in Andrew Jennings' 2006 book, Foul!: The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote Rigging and Ticket Scandals.